Generally, hybrid pixel detector entities comprising detector material and a bump-bonded read-out integrated circuit (ROIC or just ROC) may be utilized for almost a myriad of purposes in the field of radiation imaging and are capable of providing quality-wise superior images. Accordingly, the hybrid detectors have many advantageous features such as high dynamic range, low noise, energy-sensitivity, etc. in contrast to most common alternative, basically indirect, imaging technologies like flat-panel technology suffering from noise, poorer contrast, blurring and inadequate dynamic range, or e.g. scintillation screens supplemented with (CCD) cameras also having poorer contrast and other flaws.
Nevertheless, the applicability of hybrid pixel detectors is often limited by their relatively modest detection area size, which may typically be of the order of 10 square centimeters or less due to various technical challenges in the manufacturing of larger detectors resulting in a commercially unacceptable yield, for example.
As many use scenarios in the medical or scientific sector in general including human radiography, crystallography, non-destructive testing, security imaging and electron imaging still require or at least benefit from larger detection areas, so-called tiled configuration solutions incorporating a plurality of closely spaced detector chips forming an aggregate detector have been set forth and also exploited. However, the tile junctions, or “window frames”, which may form e.g. about 10% of the overall combined, i.e. tiled, detector surface area appear in the final image unless extensive computer-based image processing is applied to remove those or the imaging gear and/or the imaging target are moved between several subsequent images used to eliminate the frame by constructing a single frameless image from the non-frame image portions of the taken several images. The resulting processed image is typically far from perfect and remains technically and/or financially unfeasible in many applications.
FIG. 1 illustrates by way of example only an array of rectangular detectors 102a arranged in a square configuration 102 to form a functionally larger area detector of 4×4 individual detectors. The annoying window frame effect and the associated loss of information arising from the physical separation of the tiles and thus active detection areas of the neighboring detectors is visible in the constructed image 104.